February 17, 2005

A photo of 8 brave pilots preparing to take off in their F-5E Tigers from the 4th Tactical Fighter Base at Dezful (known as Vahdati) for one of many missions against Iraqi forces in the early days of the Iran-Iraq war.

During those days, Vahdati and Dezful were under constant threat of being overrun by the Iraqi army, and very often pilots like these did not know as they took off whether they would have a base to come back to when their mission was over. For this reason, pilots jokingly called this base "Vahshati" air force base!

Men like this continued to fight for their country despite their colleagues having been constantly threatened, thrown in jail, tortured, and executed. They knew very well that they could be next, and that their sacrifice might never be officially acknowledged. A large number ended up being either killed in action, taken prisoner, purged and/or executed by the government, or leaving the country they fought so dearly for. To this day they are not publicly honored or recognized in Iran, and remain nameless and faceless for most Iranians.

Iran produced the highest scoring F-5E aces in the world (the F-5E has been in service in with over 26 countries for 32 years). The highest scoring F-5 pilot in the world is Colonel Yadollah Javadpour with 5 enemy aircraft shot down to his credit. One of these was a Mig-25, the fastest and highest flying fighter plane in the world, and was routinely used by Iraq to bomb civilian areas of Iran.

Sent by An Iranian

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